Pakistan-focused venture capital firm Sarmayacar has backed an undisclosed funding round in Dawaai, a Pakistani online pharmacy, according to a statement. Other participating investors include London-based investment firm Kingsway Capital and San Francisco-based Mentors Fund.
Dawaai last raised nearly $1 million in pre-Series A funding from 500 Startups’s 500 Durians fund in April.
“With the capital we have raised and support of partners like Sarmayacar and Kingsway, we are focused on driving scale in the most capital-efficient manner and ushering Pakistan’s healthcare system into the new era,” Kidwai said.
Founded in 2013 by former London investment banker Furquan Kidwai, Dawaai operates as an online pharmacy targeting B2B and B2C segments across Pakistan. The country’s pharmaceutical market is estimated to be at least $3 billion in size and growing at a double-digit rate (excluding the rampant counterfeit market of $1+ billion), according to data cited by the company.
Dawaai said it sources products directly from manufacturers and established distributors to ensure authenticity and then fulfills demand through its managed end-to-end logistics function.
Commenting on its investment, Sarmayacar’s founder and managing director, Rabeel Warraich, said moving pharmaceutical products across Pakistan comes with logistical challenges, impacting margins in a price-controlled market.
“Dawaai, in our view, is tackling these very real pain points – by aggregating demand across the country and managing logistics end to end,” he said.
Sarmayacar was established in 2016, as a syndicate of local and international angel investors pooling capital and expertise to back Pakistani startups. The firm is led by Rabeel Warraich and Bernhard Klemen.
